Private Lives at The Gielgud

If Noel Coward were alive to see this production of his 1930 play, Private Lives, at The Gielgud, I’m pretty sure he would be impressed.  Anna Chancellor and Toby Stevens as Amanda and Elyot have such a wonderful chemistry and the whole evening sparkles and highlights Coward’s skill with the witty one liner and the hint of cruelty beneath the laughter.

The play brings into sharp focus how certain couples find it hard to live with and, more importantly, live without one another.  Although perfectly in tune in the bedroom, post-coital they irritate the hell out of one another. Elyot and Amanda, having therefore decided that being without is the better option have subsequently re-married; Elyot to Sibyl (Anna-Louise Plowman) and Amanda to Victor (Anthony Calf).  This would seem to be a normal enough solution if it weren’t for the fact that both couples are not only honeymooning at the same time, in the same hotel, but also in adjoining rooms.  On realizing this somewhat sizeable error, as well as the fact that the second marriages were maybe less than sensible, Elyot and Amanda do what only couples of their ilk can do – they run away.  What follows is, in this production at least, a hilarious expose of why they split up in the first instance and why the rebound marriages were ill advised.

Anna Chancellor proves what a superb actress she is.  She captures perfectly Amanda’s manipulative nature, hidden beneath her playful sexiness.  All legs and arms, she lounges, dances and cavorts to the manor born and I defy any full-bloodied male not to be entranced.  Toby Stephens certainly is, but then he makes it perfectly clear why Sibyl and Amanda are both in thrall to his charms.  He may be a tad shorter than his ex-wife, with but no matter, what he loses in inches he more than makes up for in personality.  Even when not delivering Coward’s pitch perfect script, his facial expressions speak volumes.  I have never seen him give a better performance and this is one of the funniest adaptations of a Coward play I’ve seen.  Especially as the two leads feed off each other so brilliantly.  They are the perfect double act.  What also helps is that the clipped speech, so associated with “the Master” is nowhere to be seen, bringing the play bang up to date.

The two unfortunate new spouses are well played and Anna-Louise Plowman, especially, makes an excellent job of portraying the irritating, younger new wife, who eventually shows she possesses some steel behind the frothy exterior.

Jonathan Kent, who is doing such a marvellous job as Artistic Director  at Chichester shows why the Sussex theatre is doing so well.  I’m just thankful that the producers decided to transfer this, his latest triumph, to the West End.  As you’ve probably gathered, I loved it.